thats what i need a shorter than 15 ' TV because i will only be carrying a bit of fishing gear and me (i am 98kg) and can only go out on the water for a few hours most of the time no long trips or camping gear 13.5' x 29"OR 32 " more handier for throwing on the top of the ute

but thinking about it , would the shorter boat sit a lot deeper in the water with about 250 pound load because i also would like draw very little water for some of the shallows in my river , so if you took 18 inches off the TV how much more water would it draw .

Let's see, I weigh 250, my regular fishing gear (I'm a minimalist) even with a small ice chest might add 30 more pounds. Plus all the fish I always catch should top out at 300 lb. payload. I've seen Ron put over 500 lbs. in his TV 15-29, so I bet 300 would work in a 13'-6" x 28" Touring pirogue with a V bottom. Can we all live with a 300 lb. payload requirement?

I hear them all saying "yes", how about it Matt?

I'll even man up and volunteer to build the prototype and give a detailed build-a-long with lots of pictures.

well i am around 210 -220 so that would leave me 80 to play with ,300 should be plenty i should think .my main thing is not to much draft in the water but keep good stability .vertical take off would be handy but i doubt i could flap my arms fast enough .i dont want to push , if it dont happen it dont matter i will still build the 15 -29.

johno

PS hang on i just checked the recommended max load for the 15 -29 is only 315 anyway , i thought it was 500 pound where did i get that idea from .looks like the standard TV will serve my purpose , just take a bit of getting used to the longness ( new word ) of it after my little alley boats .

PS hang on i just checked the recommended max load for the 15 -29 is only 315 anyway , i thought it was 500 pound where did i get that idea from .looks like the standard TV will serve my purpose , just take a bit of getting used to the longness ( new word ) of it after my little alley boats .[/quote]

For legal and safety reasons I think Matt under rates his boats, which is the right thing to do. Like all people who deal with people and sell a product, they under rate the product to prevent litigation if someone were to go over the pre-set limit and get hurt. It's just a good practice and I totally agree with it. However, that being said, look at some of the posts that Ron put on this forum talking about his TV 15-29. He'll tell you himself that it'll hold over 500 lbs. easily and still paddle well. Thats why when Matt says 315 is the limit, I figger 400 is more realistic. The plastic kayak I sold to finance my 15-29 build was only 13'-4" x 28" and could easily hold me, my gear, and I've had up to 75 lbs. of catfish sitting between my legs in it, and it was just fine. However, I know that Matt will do his best to keep us safe if we follow his guidelines and I trust him to do the right thing.

Paddling a 15 ft compared to a 13 ft is like comparing apples and oranges. Tracking is better ,stability is better on the longer boat I see it every time I paddle with a group, in fact I think 16 ft is going to be the shortest I build from now on.Ron